Democrats not concerned about the ethics of their leaders

AP/Houston Chronicle:

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., backed funding for a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that could affect the value of property he owns nearby.

The planned span over the Colorado River between Laughlin, Nev., and Bullhead City, Ariz., got an $18 million boost in last year's massive federal transportation bill.

Reid, who's in line to become Senate majority leader after last week's election, owns 160 acres of undeveloped property in Bullhead City, several miles from the proposed bridge sites. Development is booming in the area and local officials in Laughlin and Bullhead City support a new crossing to ease traffic on the one existing bridge. They also expect it would add to property values.

...

Reid and other incoming Democratic leaders have promised to bring more openness to the practice of earmarking, where lawmakers insert funding for pet projects into legislation with little scrutiny.

...

Then on the House side, Nancy Pelosi is supporting the ethics challenged Jack Murtha.

...

But Mr. Murtha is also coming under the spotlight on another subject that dominated the campaign: Congressional ethics. He helped block changes in ethics policies that Democrats proposed last year. He has also been an astute backroom-deal maker known for trading votes for the pet projects known as earmarks. He has had family members who lobbied on issues under his control, and he was caught up in the Abscam corruption scandal more than 25 years ago, though he was never charged.

The leader of one watchdog group said Monday that Mr. Murtha’s record should disqualify him for the No. 2 job, particularly since Democrats campaigned so hard against Republican corruption and have promised to make new ethics and lobbying rules a priority.

“How can Americans believe that the Democrats will return integrity to the House when future Speaker Pelosi has endorsed an ethically challenged member for a leadership position?” asked Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a Democratic-leaning group that focuses on government integrity. “Representative Murtha is the wrong choice for this job.”

...

The Washington Times has more on the Murtha mess including his lobbyist brothers ties. Other corruption issues facing the Democrats own are seen here. Corruption certainly did not deter Democrats voters from supporting the ethics challenged. But it should be hung around their neck until they get rid of these official hypocrites.

Nancy Pelosi apparently has her own questionable land deals. There is apparently much more to hang around the necks of the Democrat culture of real estate deals.

Jack Kelly has interesting things to say about the Murtha Pelosi axis and what it portends for the Democrats.